Many thanks

It’s the Big Day for gratitude here in the United States. The very lucky among us will be gathering with family and friends over a meal, and then some other activities. Bowl games; worship services; going to a movie; board games; serving at a homeless shelter; catching up on news; arguing about fashion choices, politics, original Wonder Woman vs reboot.

Some will go shopping, which means that others will be at work, helping them. Still others will also be at work, on fire trucks and ambulances, in hospital wards and emergency rooms, in cockpits and airports, in patrol cars and precinct houses, on military bases all over the world.

The less fortunate will be eating at soup kitchens, or alone, or not at all.

Today I’ll be joining the friends who had me over last year, and I’m deeply grateful for this. And here’s what else I’m grateful for:

All the turkeys, pigs, cattle, lambs, fish, oysters and other creatures who gave their lives so we can feast—I hope you had a kind existence and a humane end. Thank you.

Farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, workers in the fields—thank you for your labor that brought this amazing bounty to our tables. You too, supermarket workers—stocking the shelves, directing us to the arcane things we need, sweeping the floors, ringing up all the bags of groceries. I hope you’re unionized. Thank you.

Those who operate homeless shelters, free clinics, soup kitchens, food banks every day of the year—you are my heroes. You give me hope for humanity. Thank you.

Gas station attendants, emergency road rescue crews and convenience store operators who backstop people on the road today, you’re performing a mitzvah. Thank you.

Restaurant cooks, busboys and waitstaff serving families all over the country: I hope your customers don’t give you a hard time and they tip well. Thank you.

First responders of all stripes—thank you.

Serving military, wherever you are, you are on the frontlines of national policy, often making the best of a bad lot. Veterans, however long your service, you contributed to our security at a cost to you we cannot fully understand. Thank you.

Robert S. Mueller III and your team of lawyers, tax experts, terrorism investigators, litigators, RICO prosecutors, money laundering investigators and criminal fraud specialists: please take the day to be with your families and friends, and reflect upon the hundreds of thousands of lives being endangered by the crimes you're probing. The nation and the world are depending on you to uncover whatever acts of corruption, financial improprieties, high crimes and misdemeanors that this Congress is too spineless to look for. Be safe. And thank you.

Those eating alone, or at soup kitchens or not at all—my wish for you is that you soon will find your place among friends who welcome you into their hearts, and that there is room there for gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.